Primary Job Duties
Home Health Aide (HHA) / Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)
This is the frontline role, providing essential hands-on personal care to patients.
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Primary Duties: Assisting with activities of daily living (ADLs) like bathing, dressing, grooming, and toileting. They may also help with simple transfers, meal preparation, light housekeeping, and taking vital signs.
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Key Difference: HHAs typically have a specific certification for home care, while CNAs have a broader certification that also applies to nursing homes and hospitals.
Registered Nurse (RN) / Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)
These roles provide skilled medical care that cannot be performed by an aide. The RN typically holds a higher level of responsibility.
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Primary Duties: Performing patient assessments, administering medications, wound care, IV therapy, patient education, and monitoring the overall plan of care. RNs often supervise HHAs and LPNs and develop the initial care plan.
Physical Therapist (PT) / Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA)
PTs are crucial for helping patients regain mobility, strength, and function after an illness, surgery, or injury.
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Primary Duties: Evaluating a patient’s mobility and creating a treatment plan. This includes exercises to improve balance, gait training (e.g., after a hip replacement), pain management, and teaching patients to use assistive devices like walkers or canes.
Occupational Therapist (OT) / Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA)
OTs focus on helping patients re-learn the skills needed for daily life and independence.
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Primary Duties: Assisting patients with adaptive techniques for tasks like dressing, cooking, and bathing. They work on fine motor skills, recommend and teach the use of adaptive equipment, and may perform home safety evaluations.
Medical Social Worker (MSW)
This role addresses the psychosocial and environmental factors that impact a patient’s health and recovery.
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Primary Duties: Assessing a patient’s emotional and social needs, providing counseling, connecting patients and families with community resources (like Meals on Wheels or financial assistance), and assisting with long-term care planning and advanced directives.
Care Coordinator / Case Manager
Often an RN or MSW, this professional is responsible for overseeing a patient’s entire plan of care, coordinating between the different therapists and aides, communicating with doctors, and ensuring compliance with insurance requirements.